Denver Sluice

Near Downham Market, Norfolk UK. The system of water channels and pumps safeguards the surrounding area from flooding.

The system was the brainchild of the Dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden in the 1600s to reclaim land and make it available for farming and habitation, as well as creating deeper straight waterways  for ports (such as King's Lynn, Wisbech and Sutton Bridge) to develop trade with European ports collectively known as the Hanseatic League..